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Catalogue

13. Alabastron

Accession Number 2004.6
Dimensions H. 9.4, Diam. rim 3.0, max. Diam. 2.6 cm; Wt. 39.00 g
Date Fifth century BCE
Production Area Eastern Mediterranean, possibly Rhodes
Material Dark purple (seemingly black) and opaque white glass
Modeling Technique and Decoration Core-formed; applied rim-disk, handles, and unmarvered and marvered threads
View in Collection

Condition

Mended. Weathering occurs all over the vessel, giving it a rusty color with some iridescence. Remains of red grainy core in the interior.

Description

Dark purple (seemlingly black) body; opaque white decoration. Broad, horizontal rim-disk; vestigial neck; cylindrical body, wider toward the flat bottom. Below the shoulder are two small, opposing vertical ring handles with knobbed tails; one is purple, and the other dark green.

The alabastron is decorated with applied white threads. An unmarvered thread is wound around the rim, and three more around the body on top, middle, and bottom. The upper one is unmarvered and the other two are marvered. The threads on the shoulder and near the bottom are wound twice, and the middle thread three times.

Comments and Comparanda

On core-formed alabastra, see comments on cat. 10. For the classification of this particular alabastron, see , class I:F, alabastron form I:3A: p. 187, no. 77; , form 3, pp. 58–59.

Provenance

1908, Arnold Vogell, 1857–1911 (Karlsruhe, Germany) [sold, Griechische Altertümer südrussischen Fundorts aus dem Besitze des Herrn A. Vogell, Karlsruhe (Versteigerung), Max Cramer, Cassel, Germany, May 26–30, 1908, lot 1077]; by 1974–1988, Erwin Oppenländer, 1901–1988 (Waiblingen, Germany), by inheritance to his daughter, Ingrid Reisser, 1988; 1988–2004, Ingrid Reisser (Böblingen, Germany), sold to the J. Paul Getty Museum, 2004

Bibliography

, no. 1077.

, p. 67, no. 161.

Exhibitions

Gläser der Antike: Sammlung Erwin Oppenländer (Hamburg and Cologne, 1974–1975)